10 things a new Shaman should know about fighting casters

by Natalie Mootz Jun 18th 2008 at 8:00PM

Here are some tips every new shaman player should know. Casters can be some of your easiest kills, whether in PvP or PvE because Shock is your middle name and spell interruption is your game.

Earth Shock, baby! At level 4 you'll get Rank 1 of this spell. Its cooldown is 6 seconds, just like all your shock spells.
Keep Earth Shock (Rank 1) somewhere on your toolbar in addition to higher levels of the spell. It only uses 30 mana and it still stops an enemy in mid-cast just as effectively as higher ranked versions of the spell.
Mages can be taken down easily if you're quick to get close to them and stop them from casting Frost Nova. Pound them quickly, continuing to shock them when casting.
Level 24+ Mages and level 32+ Priests can stop your Lightning Bolts with Counterspell or Silence. Although both of these spells will impact your casting for up to 8 seconds, remember that shock spells are instant cast and can't be interrupted.
In the case of Mages' Counterspells, their silencing effect only stops one school of casting. So if they hit you during Lightning Bolt (a Nature spell), you can still cast your Flame or Frost Shocks, but not your Earth Shock. You can also drop Searing Totem for damage.

After the jump, five more tips for shamans against casters.

A handy way to deal with most casters is to alternate between Lightning Bolt and Earth Shock; while one cools down, the other is ready to go.
Even snazzier, at level 30 shamans get Grounding Totem. Before I attack a caster I always drop a Grounding Totem. I can usually get off three Lightning Bolt casts before they can cast their second spell. Their first spell goes into the Grounding Totem, their second spell gets stopped with Earth Shock. By that time, I've closed on them and it only takes a few bonks to bring them down. Drop Grounding Totem against casters as often as it cools down.
Warlocks can be a bit of a pain because they get Fear at level 8. Shamans don't get Tremor Totem until level 18, at which point the tables will turn. If a warlock has an imp or felhunter up, blast the demon first with a one-two punch of Lightning Bolt then a shock of your choice. If they have any other minion up, ignore it and go right after the caster.
When you fight other shamans, you can follow the tips for Mages.
Lastly, Tauren shamans have one advantage over Draenei shamans when it comes to fighting casters: War Stomp. You can't use it in every fight because its cooldown is two minutes, but it does come in handy.

Tags: draenei, earth-shock, fighting-casters, grounding-totem, new-player, new-shaman, shaman, spell-interruption, tauren, tremor-totem, war-stomp

Filed under: Tauren, Shaman, Analysis / Opinion, Tips, How-tos, Draenei, Guides, Classes, New Players' Guide

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Jagoex Jun 18th 2008 8:10PM

Shamans can be tough when geared well and played even better. Unfortunately, they are one of the toughest classes to play, and therefore aren't as popular as they should be.

These are great tips for a newbie Shammy. Thanks for writing. =)

I do take issue with one thing, however.

If a Warlock has a Succubus out and positions her well in the field, it is probably a good idea to take her out as soon as she appears. Leaving her alone gives the 'lock yet another form of CC that most Shamans can't afford.

Good luck!

Calaana Jun 18th 2008 8:27PM

Don't spam Earth shock! Time your castings of it so you always interrupt a spell, and waste as much of the spell cast as possible - Ie, don't interrupt pyroblast at 1 second in... wait a few more and force them to give up another 5 seconds.

Apophis Jun 19th 2008 1:39AM

No serious Mage will ever cast a non-instant Pyro in PVP ;)

Ishmaiel Jun 18th 2008 8:30PM

Great stuff, I hope with the new expansion Shaman get more love and popularity than they have been getting.

Don't forget, in warsong you can carry the flag in spirit wolf form. While it *can* be despelled/purged if its still better than running at regular speed.

Bunkai Jun 19th 2008 1:22PM

And it's instant cast(with talents) now too, so getting purged isn't as big of a deal as it used to be.

mbenitez1992 Jun 18th 2008 9:18PM

Against Mages without Imp Coutnerspell:

Hearthstone fake cast!! xD

Angel Jun 18th 2008 10:46PM

Lol Why the hell would someone want to stop a HS cast...!

I would let the guy cast HS :D so atleast he leaves his arena team mate there for us to eat alive :P

So never heard of Fake HS cast and seems idiotic :D But atleast it made me lol at who would wana counterspell it. :P

Good One

Xioyn Jun 18th 2008 10:53PM

if you were not looking at the cast info you would just see the green hands meaning a heal

dAnixx Jun 19th 2008 6:11AM

only noob mages fall to that one -.-

mbenitez1992 Jun 19th 2008 9:19AM

Well, lots of people use mouseover counterspell/deadly throw/earth shock macros nowadays, so they'd still fall for it in many situations. And anyway, I just find the concept hilarious. :P

Apophis Jun 19th 2008 1:43AM

[quote]Level 24+ Mages and level 32+ Priests can stop your Lightning Bolts with Counterspell or Silence. Although both of these spells will impact your casting for up to 8 seconds, remember that shock spells are instant cast and can't be interrupted.[/quote]

Priest Silence just silences the target for 5sec, where Counterspell interrupts the school that was casted.

Littlemouse Jun 19th 2008 2:23AM

One caveat I'd like to add if you see an imp out; unless it's casting firebolts in combat, it cannot be harmed. I'm not even sure if it can be banished if they just use it for the Dark Pact and stamina buff.

Basically, if you can see through it, leave it alone. If it starts casting and loses it's transparency, kill it.:)

Natalie Mootz Jun 19th 2008 11:32AM

Actually, I've blown away many an imp before it even knows I'm there.

Bland Jun 19th 2008 3:10AM

Here's how I go as an enhancement shammy against a frost mage:

I drop a grounding totem as I run in.
I get a stormstrike hit and maybe a few melee whacks in.
I get frost nova'd.
Mage stands about 10 feet away blasting me with ice lance until I die. I'm lucky to get more than 1 shock off.

Anyone got any tips? I figure a frost mage is just the perfect antispec for my spec so maybe I just gotta suck it up!

Apophis Jun 19th 2008 5:02AM

Use PVP trinket to get out of the nova and drop earthbind as long as grounding is on cd and he is near you.

Rock Jun 19th 2008 5:56AM

This is going to sound crazy but.. kite

Use grounding and ES to keep any heavy hits off, but just keep your distance and make them waste their mana, sooner or later they will come for you, with little mana and thats when you strike.

*only for tauren gnomish eng*
Come in with an SS then warstomp get some hits in, then use gnomish poultryizer, just before that is up use a bomb to get another 3s stun, and hope that was enough to take em down. I would assume the rocket boots are a god send as well but I don't have mine yet ><

Angus Jun 19th 2008 7:19AM

In the case of Mages' Counterspells, their silencing effect only stops one school of casting. So if they hit you during Lightning Bolt (a Nature spell), you can still cast your Flame or Frost Shocks, but not your Earth Shock. You can also drop Searing Totem for damage.

Nope, you can't drop searing totem if they locked down your nature school. All totems are nature currently.

When fighting a warlock, check to see if they have the macro or are an idiot. Drop stoneclaw and see if they try to kill it. If they do, well, giggle at the free hk.

Kaneda Jun 19th 2008 9:14AM

What, no tips against balance druids?

raven Jun 19th 2008 9:57AM

You are leaving out perhaps the most powerful of the shaman's abilities in PvP: Purge. Almost all healer classes rely on buffs and HoTs to some extent, it's an instant spell, and you can spam it when you are rooted (like you will be 99% of the time in BG/arenas).

Tremor Totem is good, but not very reliable. Even with the new 3-second pulses, you can easily be kited or feared away from the totems. A smart warlock will also do Deathcoil or instant Howl, wand the totem, chain-fear/dot/win.

Other situational abiliities are Bloodlust/Heroism (assuming arenas or premade BG) and those annoying elementals, which prove to be very useful for caster-pushbacks and uncovering those stealthies.

The other tips well and good for lower bracket battlegrounds, but at level 70 your only "real viable" PvP spec is Restoration. One of the strongest PvP duoing combos is an Arms Warrior + Resto Shaman, coming only 2nd to Druid + Warrior because of the lack of CC and the lack of mobility. As Elemental you have some usefulness in the 5v5 arena bracket, but most of the time in Battlegrounds you can get off a few chain lightnings before some rogue or warrior notices you and gibs you in about 5 seconds. As an Enhancement you will essentially have all fragility of rogue with none of the survival. You can occassionally ride up on someone with low resilience and beat them down with a few WF procs before they can react, but most of the time, if they see you coming, you're toast. Rogues, warriors, hunters, mages, demo or afflict locks, boomkin/feral druids, and ret-pallies can all pretty much beat you 1v1 unless you outgear them. More importantly, if you're being ganged up on, you have no escape ability beyond earthbind + ghostwolf and hope you live.